


The real gift

by Gloredhel



Series: A merry little Siremy Christmas [5]
Category: Rise (TV 2018)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Post-Season/Series, Romance, Teen Romance, gift wrapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gloredhel/pseuds/Gloredhel
Summary: Time to wrap presents at the Travers. Simon has come to help, but Jeremy isn't exactly cooperative. Among ribbons, paper, greeting cards and thanks to a little prank, he'll find out that sometimes gifts aren't just those that arrive in boxes. And maybe he'll find also some motivation for the task.
Relationships: Simon Saunders/Jeremy Travers
Series: A merry little Siremy Christmas [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575223
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The real gift

**Author's Note:**

> I should have posted this before Christmas, but I wrote it after the snowman one and I finished reeeeeally close to Christmas day, so it was impossible to get it checked by my beta in time. I hope you like it anyway 😊 and happy New Year!

Simon sighed for the thousandth time, even though he already knew it was going to be like that, with Jeremy.

“Can you stop playing with ribbon and help me with these?”

They were sat at the dining room table and Jeremy had finally tied a bow on the top of his head with the red ribbon encircling his face. It was hard to do it without a mirror and without making the whole thing too loose to stay put, so he was pretty proud of himself. To add the final touch, he pasted a little paper bow on his forehead (it fell almost immediately) and decided to do the same on Simon's too.

Simon took it off right away. “You're useless with wrapping presents!”

“I'm not!” Jeremy uttered. “I'm just making the atmosphere more...festive,” he chuckled.

“You're just wasting supplies,” Simon said, moving to his side of the table as much stuff as he could of all that they had – wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, tape, small greeting cards, glitter markers and so on. “ _I_ am pretty much doing everything.” A fair amount of pretty packs and packets was in fact already piled under the Christmas tree, each with its little recipient's name tag written in a nice handwriting.

“When you get annoyed you get a little crinkle here, above your nose...that's not cute, I'll tell ya.”

Simon looked up at him and snorted loud, without saying a word.

Jeremy got up of the chair and skipped up to him, losing the ribbon on his head. “Aww you're still cute and I love you anyway, don't worry,” he hugged him and pecked him where that crinkle was supposed to be. Simon couldn't resist and smiled.

“Oh, thank you, too kind of you! But what was that?”

“What?”

“You’ve just skipped.” 

“That's the Christmas Elves way of walking. They skip.”

“And you're a Christmas Elf?”

“Of course! I even have a ribbon on my – oh no, it fell,” he said, putting the hands on his head. “Anyway, you're an elf too.”

Simon laughed, shaking his head. “And do you know what they do, besides jumping around? They WORK. C'mon, let's just finish these presents. PLEASE,” and he handed Jeremy out a small box, a gift for some aunt, while he resumed working at a gift destined to Jeremy's mother. 

The boy took it, sat down and carelessly started wrapping it with a red paper with gold stripes that he has picked randomly from the pile. The piece he had cut was too small, but he used it anyway, adding a lot of tape to try cover the box the best he could. Simon of course noticed it.

“What's that?”

“A gift...wrapped.” and he showed it to him. “You can even get a glimpse of the contents before you fully unwrap it, it's like a...spoiler.”

Simon raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Ugh, this is boring! And you're not making it better,” he grumbled and crossed his arm. “I'm tired.”

“But it's you who invited me to help you with the presents!”

“Actually, my mum did,” Jeremy clarified. “After you declared to be the best in town at wrapping presents!”

It had happened when he was having dinner at the Travers, a few nights before. With the whole house and especially the dining room decorated for Christmas not surprisingly the subject of presents had come up and when Lisa, Jeremy's mother, had said that she always managed to finish the wrapping at the last minute (often when the Christmas Eve's dinner guests were about to arrive), Simon's natural reaction was to ask why nobody helped her; for the Saunders it was a family thing, he'd do it with his parents and sister and he didn't want to brag, but he was pretty good at it, always finding nice wrapping paper and decorations. So why not come over and help them too, Lisa asked? 

“You said it was a great idea!”

“Yes, because it was great to have you here and spend some time together, just not to wrapping presents. But since you're the best...”

“I didn't say _the best_ , but -”

“You even brought your own markers, glitter and stickers.”

“They can add that special touch and – oh stop it! Yes, I'm good at it and you're not gonna make me feel bad because I agreed to help your mum, you whiny.”

Jeremy stuck out his tongue and then giggled when Simon threw a paper bow at him before looking around and saying: “Well, you'll be happy to know that there are just a couple of gifts left to wrap. But funnily enough I don't see mine...” 

The two left on the table, in fact, were for a couple of family friends. “Did you really think I'd have let you wrap your own present?” Jeremy laughed. “No way, Saunders.”

“Just give me a little hint!”

“Nope.”

“Not even a tiny tiny tiny one? Pleeeeease!”

What a damn, adorable puppy face, Jeremy though looking at Simon; it seemed he really wanted to know more and Jeremy wondered what his reaction was going to be, hearing: “Uhm...actually there can't be a hint, because uhm, I didn't get you anything. I'm sorry,” he said after a while, scratching his ear.

“Oh,” Simon simply replied. He didn't expect that. “Really?”

“Yeah, just I don't have much money lately and...I'm sorry. You're not too disappointed, are you?”

Simon shook his head, serious. “No, no. Of course not.” 

“Say that you don't like my presents!” he uttered, frowning playfully. 

“What are you talking about, I do like your presents and you know that!” Simon replied. “I didn't expect to receive nothing this year, but...okay, don't laugh at me now” - he tittered - “the truth is that I don't need something in a box to know that you care about me. It's nice when I get it, but at the end of the day _you_ are my gift” - he blushed - “for the way you make me feel every day, because of the laughs and hugs and everything. Because you're there and I can always count on you. I never told you, but when we got together and I told my mum, she asked me if you made me happy and I said yes. There's no gift like that,” he finished with a shy smile. He was still flushed, even more than before and wondered maybe he'd gone overboard? Jeremy was looking at him with an indecipherable expression. He looked away. “Okay, now after this awkward and cheesy monologue, let's move on and finish these last packets.”

He took one but Jeremy stopped him by taking his hand. “That wasn't awkward and cheesy,” he said. “It was beautiful and sweet. Damn -” he rubbed his eyes, a bit moved. “- I didn't expect _this_ either. And what you said to your mum...” he smiled. 

“Well, it's the truth.”

“Aww” - Jeremy stood up and went to sit next to Simon, moving the chair very close to his - “you make me happy too. Insanely happy, like really, I wake up in the morning and I think that my life without you would literally suck. I can't even imagine it, seriously. Everything is in its right place, since I know you.”

“You're telling me!”

Jeremy giggled and leaned in even more to hug him, the arm around his shoulders, heads touching. “I love you,” he said then, looking him in the eye.

“Even when I make you do boring things like wrapping gifts?”

“Especially then,” Jeremy smiled wide and then kissed him. “Listen, speaking of gifts again...I have to tell you something,” he said to the dismay of Simon who didn't exactly want to talk, in that moment. “I was kidding, before. When I told you I didn't get you anything for Christmas, it was a joke, because I did. It's hidden somewhere in the house – no I won't tell you where. My wrapping skills aren't like yours, but I tried my best.”

Simon stared at him, puzzled. “Why did you do that?” 

“You were so serious about this wrapping thing, so I thought let's play a trick on him and say he's not getting anything, instead. Offhand, it wasn't planned. C'mon, it wasn't mean, you weren't even offended.”

Simon sighed and shook his head. “What should I do with you?”

Jeremy gently caressed him and when his hand lingered on his cheek, Simon turned the head slightly and kissed the palm. Jeremy's heart did a somersault. “Love me. And also keep telling me things like the one before. I'm still swooning.” 

“I'll see what I can do.” They both giggled and stared at each other for a while, before starting to kiss again. The two gifts left were soon forgotten among kisses, whispers and tee-hee, at least until they heard Jeremy's brother's voice behind them. “I didn't know that's how you do that,” he said standing in the living room doorway, interrupting them. “The wrapping thing. I could volunteer with my girlfriend, next year.”

“Shut up, James,” Jeremy replied, pulling away from Simon, but keeping his arm around his neck. Simon blushed as it always happened when someone, especially of the Travers, caught them; he still had to fully get used to the fact that they were completely okay with him and Jeremy being together.

James laughed in response and then disappeared upstairs again with a beer and a bag of chips.

“Pain in the ass as usual,” Jeremy grumbled. “Where were we? But maybe we'll be more comfortable there,” he took Simon's hand and both stood up, just to collapse on the couch a few steps further.

“He's right and we have to finish those presents,” Simon said as Jeremy was already cuddling next to him. He couldn't resist and started stroking his hair, though. “There are only two.”

“Let's put them in two gift bags and we're good,” Jeremy muttered, burying his face in Simon's neck.

“Jer, we – hold on a sec.” His phone was buzzing in his pocket. “Saved by the bell. It's Lilette. Hey Lil! Yeah, I'm still at Jeremy's, we haven’t finished yet, you know him...” and he glanced at his boyfriend who, still clung to him, was pretending to be asleep. “At Volpe's? Yeah, sure. At what time? In an hour, perfect. Yes, we can make it by then, I know how to get him. Okay, see you later, bye.”

Jeremy seemed really asleep. “I know you're awake, c'mon.” Simon shook him off and Jeremy whined to himself. “Lilette asked if we want to join the others at Volpe's in an hour and I said yes. So no excuse, we have to finish the wrapping. Let's go,” he stood up and was at the table before Jeremy could stop him.

“Can't we do it when we're back home?” he asked, still sat on the couch.

“No. Your mum will be home before us and how would that make us look? We finish now, so we're free for good. One each and it's done before you know it, come here.“

Simon was right, but Jeremy wasn't much convinced; he just didn't want to do it and he wasn't even good at it, to be fair. “You could wrap both, you did great with the others.”

“If you don't help me, no kisses for a week – no, maybe just five days. It's still Christmas,” Simon replied without even looking at him, but he was still talking that Jeremy had literally ran to the table already, grabbing paper and tape.

“I've never seen you running this fast, I should've told you earlier,” Simon laughed and handed him the other gift left.

“Aren't you funny!” Jeremy replied as Simon's cackle eventually infected him too. But hey, maybe he was right, he thought. Motivation is the key of everything, isn't it? And Simon was definitely the best motivation ever, for him.


End file.
